Prelude to Salvation
by CTMGame
Summary: Prequel to my Story "The Perseverance of the Galaxy". A retelling of Liara's interaction with Shepard from his resurrection to the Battle of Earth.
1. Remembrance

**Prothean Archives, Mars, Sol, ****24**** hours before Day Zero**

"_If this all ends tomorrow, what happens to us?"_

"_Marriage, old age, and a lot of little blue children?"_

Again and again, Liara played the surveillance log from that day on Hagalaz, the last day Shepard had spent as member of Cerberus before turning himself in. It had felt like the world was going to end, the Reapers already at the Alpha relay; it was only a matter of time for their world to shatter. And yet, this moment had been the happiest she had ever been, for the last two years.

She'd been here, in the Prothean Archives on Mars, so close to Shepard, and yet so far away. Her work was supposed to help the Alliance, the Republics and the Galaxy. And Shepard. She'd already lost him once, losing him a second time just couldn't be an option.

Wiping away a tear, she got back to work. Shepard was still on her mind, just as were the Reapers. So many things, happy and sad memories dominated her thoughts.

**Illium, 2185**

_"Shepard. It's so good to see you again."_

_"Liara."_

Both were speechless as they ran towards each other. What had been two years for Liara had only been two weeks for Shepard. Acting out of instinct, she kissed him, and he returned the kiss. The last time she had seen him, he had been in a body bag that was being handed over to Cerberus. The last time she had seen him alive, he had helped her into a rescue pod before setting off to find Joker. And here, he was again. Like a miracle.

As they kissed for longer and longer, she remembered the day he had freed her from the Prothean trap on Therum and, most importantly, the hours before their mission to Ilos. Humans were so special, and he was the most special of all of them. Humans would have called him her boyfriend, but the Asari term, she felt, expressed the intensity of their connection so much better. He was her bondmate.

"I waited two years for this moment, Shepard.", she trembled, barely able to believe her luck. "Don't ever leave me again."

"I won't, Liara, I promise. Once the collectors are dealt with, we can be together again."

**Hagalaz, 2185**

_"I can't pass on this opportunity, Shepard. Using the resources of the Shadow Broker network to fight the Reapers is the chance of a lifetime."_

The old Shadow Broker, a monstrous Yahg, lay there, dead in his own blood. Liara was standing at the console, setting herself up as the new Shadow Broker. Shepard stood behind her, watching. As she turned around, he had already stretched out his arms to reach around her.

"Whatever happens, I want you to know that I love you, Liara."

"If this all ends tomorrow, what happens to us?"

"Marriage, old age, and a lot of little blue children?", he quipped. Of course, it was nothing but a dream, but still a dream that was better than the soul-crushing reality.

She kissed him, knowing that this might me their last meeting in a long time. "Stay here. I can hide you from the Alliance."

"No, I'm sorry. When the Reapers come, when the Galaxy burns, the Alliance will call. I can't refuse them and I promised Hackett I'd turn myself in. I will."

"I understand, Shepard. But when the Reapers come, I will help you. And we will meet again.

**Prothean Archives, 2 hours after the Fall of Earth**

Amidst all the chaos in the burning archives, the destruction and death, Liara looked at a DataPad showing the arrival of a Vessel with Alliance IFF. It was the ... "SSV Normandy SR-2"? Goddess, it was Shepard. In this dire hour, he had come here.

She was interrupted when a Cerberus trooper put a gun against her head from behind and ordered her: "Drop the pad and put your hands up."

Liara dropped the pad as she was told, but instead of raising her hands, she ducked, turned around and smashed the trooper against a wall with her biotics. She drew her pistol and shot the trooper before he could reach his gun again. Alarmed by the commotion, two other troopers ran towards the room she was in. Both carried assault rifles, and so Liara saw no other way of escape than through the air duct.

As she crawled through the air duct, constantly chased by the Cerberus troopers, she heard shots from the room below. Down there, three men in Alliance armour were advancing through Cerberus lines. With the last Cerberus trooper in the room down, she knocked the grille out before she jumped down.

The troopers that chased her went after her down, but she threw a biotic singularity trapping them and downed them both with a double shot from her pistol.

The man in N7-armour removed his helmet, revealing the face of no one less than Shepard. Seeing him, Liara almost shed tears of joy.

"See, Liara? I came back.", he quipped, attempting to play over the massive emotions that roared inside him. He'd found Liara again, but at what price?

She put her arms around him and held him tightly: "Oh, Shepard. Now, the Reapers stand no chance." Equally, she tried to console herself. The facade held for a moment before she cried out: "I'm so glad you're here."


	2. The Fight for the Galaxy

**SSV Normandy SR-2, Leaving Sol, Four Hours after the Fall of Earth**

As they got back to the Normandy, Shepard's true feelings were revealed. When he was in a battle, his soldier's reflexes had kicked in and supressed his feelings. But here, he wasn't a soldier, at least not for the moment. He was a human, and Earth had just been lost.

His stared out into the distance, unfocused, speechless and his desolate emotions became apparent in the bond to her. To comfort him, she tried to put her arms around his armoured chest from behind. With her head to close to his, she heard a sound she had never heard before – Shepard was crying. Goddess, even Shepard was crying.

Between his shaking and his tears, he begged her: "Please, I can't lose you as well." She kissed him on the cheek: "I'm never leaving you again. Never again." Together, the two looked as the planet of war got smaller in the view screen. "Now, let's get to the Council. They need you most now.", Liara added. "I will. You gave us a fighting chance. Everyone in the Galaxy."

**Citadel Presidium, Apollo's Café, Shore Leave after the Mission at Palaven**

"So, you're here.", Shepard sat down at the table.

Liara smiled: "Yes, I am." The longer the war went on, she realized how much she had come to enjoy the small things in life. "How did the meeting with the council go?" "Just like you'd think." "I assume human politicians are no different from the Asari's?" "You're right.", Shepard answered. "At least I've got you."

"And I've got you. Ever since… ever since you came back I have something to live for again." Shepard smiled: "Sure." Behind Liara, at the bar counter he noticed a familiar face. But wait… that couldn't be… "Isn't that the bartender from Illium?" "Aethyta?", Liara asked him as she turned around. "Sure. She's my father." He pulled up an eyebrow: "Your father?"

"Yes.", Liara admitted. Shepard got up: "Well then; let's talk to her."

**Citadel Presidium, Commons, Shore Leave after the Cerberus Attack**

As Shepard walked up to her, Liara was leaning over the railing, looking out over the levels of the Presidium. With his arms around her, she leaned back against him. "You can't always sneak up on me, you know that." "I can.", he replied.

"Alright.", Liara said, attempting a brief smile. "Something wrong?", Shepard asked her. "No, it's just that…", she began to answer. Suddenly, she began weeping slightly. "It's mother. These days, I miss her more than ever."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.", Shepard wrapped his arms tighter around Liara. He just wanted to take her into another world, a world where the reapers didn't exist, where Liara could embrace her mother again. He'd never met his parents, but even he understood how losing one must have felt.

"In moments like these, I wished we were somewhere else… another universe where we can live in peace – and happiness." Together, they looked out over the presidium. "One day, we will. As will our little blue children."

"Little blue children?", Shepard wondered. "I can't wait."

**GSV Normandy SR-3, after the Fall of Thessia**

As soon as Shepard finished taking off his armour, mending a few of the cuts and bruises, he noticed that someone was missing. The scientist whose world, both scientifically and generally had just been turned around. Liara.

He looked around. Where was she? Still in the shuttle? No, she'd left. Shepard ran through the corridors, entered the elevator and went to Deck 3. He quickly crossed over to her room. Then, he found her.

Liara was in a terrible shape. Blood from an untreated laceration dripped over her forehead and, as it mixed with her tears, onto the bedding. She wasn't lying down, she was curled up against the wall. As he entered, she looked up. "Shepard." A single word tore through the cacophony of her sobbing.

He dropped to his knees, onto the bed. "I'm so sorry, Liara. I'm so sorry." As she cried on, he laid down beside her. "So incredibly sorry."

"It's not your fault.", her tears slowly died down. "It's the fault of all the matriarchs who betrayed their people."

"But if I'd only packed AP-ammo for Kai Leng, we might have got him. Dammit, if I'd reacted a split second sooner, this wouldn't have happened."

"No.", Liara calmed him. "When Earth fell, I couldn't fathom how terrible it must have been. When you cried that day on Mars, I though you needed me. But now…", she slowly began weeping again, "I need you, not the other way around."

"I'm always here. You and Garrus keep my back on every mission and we'll always leave the shuttle together again.", he offered her.

She reached up to the sides of his head. "Please…", she pleaded. "Please make me forget. Forget about everything that's going on. Just us two."

"Sure."

What followed was possibly the saddest "Embrace Eternity" that Shepard had ever heard.

**Citadel Docks, the Morning after the Party in Anderson's Apartment**

Shepard was looking out into space: "It's a beautiful world out there." His comment struck a nerve with Liara, who answered.

"Once upon a time, I was taught that it is Athame's world, that she shared it with the Asari because she loved them. I've read human philosophy. Your 19th century. Nietzsche. Athame is dead. And we killed her by finding the truth about the Protheans. I don't want to live a lie, Shepard. The Protheans created our goddess to appease, to control us. How do humans live with their beliefs?"

Shepard took a deep breath: "Humanity has fought terrible wars up until 150 years ago about religion. One's god, or gods are a completely private issue now."

"Have you got any god?", she asked him. "Yes.", he replied with a smile. "One goddess." "What's she like?" "Well, she's the person with the kindest heart, the strongest soul and the most brilliant intellect I've ever met." He paused for a moment before adding: "And she's standing right beside me now."

Liara had to smile: "Flatterer." She looked out into the space as well: "Ah, space. A beautiful nebula we're in here." "A beautiful universe we're in.", Shepard added. "One to die for." A slightly shocked expression made its way onto Liara's face. Shepard quickly continued: "And a certain blue alien worth coming back from the dead for."

"We can do this, Shepard. For our little blue babies."

"Sure. For our little blue babies." The two looked out, at the Normandy, at the slowly collecting Alliance Fleet, and at space. This felt like an eternal goodbye, one last embrace before the inevitable. But deep inside their hearts, they both felt something different. That there still was a galaxy to save. That there still was something to die for. And – most importantly: There was something to live for.


	3. The Dark Before Dawn

**London, During the Battle for Earth**

"Shepard, I...", Liara stammered. She couldn't leave him behind, but there was no other way now, was there? With a gash from a flying piece of Hammerhead that had cut deep into two of her scalp crests bleeding, her ears ringing and her knees close to collapsing, she had been so glad to be pushed onto the Normandy ramp. All the more severe was her reaction when Shepard didn't join her.

Instead, he held her hand one last time and she uttered, close to passing out, "...love you." She felt the pain that boiled in him as he answered. Amidst all the confusion, the exploding tanks, the cries of the wounded and dying that were carried onto the Normady beside her, he stood firm as a rock: "Whatever happens Liara, I want you to know that I love you too."

As the inevitable happened and she was carried into the Normandy hangar, she finally passed out, in her last lucid moments looking out after Shepard, who was walking backwards, not losing eye contact with her.

**SSV Normandy SR-2, in Earth Orbit**

Her next sensation was lying on her back and hearing impacts hit the hull of the Normandy. Suddenly, she jolted awake as she realised where she was. The unmistakably white ceiling and floor could only mean one thing: she was in the MedBay. "You are awake, Dr. T'Soni?", a familiar voice asked. Chakwas, of course.

"Where are we? What happened?", Liara asked. "We evacuated you from London. It's a hell down there.", the Doctor answered. Liara suddenly jumped up, feeling rather light-headed. "Wait, you can't leave, you have a concussion.", Chakwas added. But Liara couldn't just stay here. Shepard, he had to be here, right? He had to have been evacuated along with the others.

Stumbling, she ran to the bridge. Around her, the world turned along with the pulsing pain in her skull. As she left the elevator, Specialist Traynor greeted her: "Dr. T'Soni, glad to see you got out in one piece." "I'm fine.", Liara gasped. Then, she saw the empty command stand. Shepard wasn't here. "No.", Liara gasped as a tear rolled down her cheek. "No.", she cried out again.

Immediately, she ran to the front of the cockpit, where Joker was sitting with EDI. Suddenly, Liara heard a voice echo deep in her mind: "The paths are open. But you have to choose." Remnants of their bond still lingered, so that Shepard's perceptions were hers. He was still alive, but the pain in his body and mind were unambiguously clear.

"All units break off and head to the rendezvous point.", Hackett called in over the InterComm as the red cloud of plasma that emanated from the Crucible grew. Joker immediately responded, close to panicking: "No! We just have to..." Liara interrupted him, speaking what Shepard was thinking. "Joker. We have to go." Joker pressed his eyes shut as he too shed a single tear: "Yes. We have to." The Normandy turned around, fleeing from the Crucible blast that was deactivating Reapers left and right.

**SSV Normandy SR-2, MedBay, Landed on Manswell-Beta**

The white light of the MedBay burned itself into Liara's eyes as she woke up again. "I told you, you shouldn't have left the MedBay.", Chakwas bent over her. "You're free to go now. The anti-concussion medicine has taken effect."

"How long was I unconscious?", Liara asked as she sat up. "Twenty minutes. Most of which was due to the sedative I gave you to prevent further damage." "Twenty minutes...", Liara repeated. "We've stopped. Where are we?" "Joker landed the ship on some terraformed planet after we had a bus over-volt, so we can do some emergency repairs."

Suddenly, the door opened and the pilot ran through, followed by Samantha: "No, no, no, no, nooo!", he shouted as the door to the AI-core opened, revealing the devastation among EDI's quantum cores. "The effect of the Crucible must have overcharged her Reaper-based circuits. She's... She's dead.", Samantha solemnly explained to Joker, who was on his knees, crying with his hands over his face.

"I'm so sorry, Joker.", Samantha tightly wrapped her arms around him. "So sorry." After a moment of hesitation, Joker returned the hug. Of course, he realised that Samantha's feelings went beyond those of friendship - for EDI. And even to him, she had come closer; even if not quite as close as a small part of his brain wished right now. He remembered EDI's touch from their last night together, with the "special modifications" in use.

"I'll see what I can do to get the Normandy flying again.", he finally whispered, before he left. With a desolate feeling in her heart, Samantha sat down beside Liara: "Doctor T'Soni, I'm so sorry. Shepard really was a great man. I envy you for the time you knew him." Liara began a slight smile: "That's nice Traynor." Samantha sighed: "Normally I prefer women, but Shepard was just so... He came closer to convincing me to try men than anyone else, ever. Of course, I didn't want to try anything, with you and him..."

"Hey, you should not feel bad. Alenko also got a bit confused around Shepard.", Liara responded, "You'll find a nice woman one day." "How come you're so happy now, T'Soni? After all what happened..." "Well, Traynor, it's because...", Liara stopped mid-sentence, searching for an explanation. Suddenly, she realised why: Shepard was still in her mind. He was alive, but silent. Surely, somewhere he was currently being rescued, put into a hospital.

"It's because I know he's alive.", Liara responded. "Over the bond we share." Samantha nodded: "I see." She got up and continued: "How about some tea?"

**SSV Normandy SR-2, Liara's office**

"Nice office you have here.", Samantha commented as she looked around. "Thanks..", Liara replied. "It used to belong to Miranda Lawson." From the shelf behind her, she took a blue paperbound book, inscribed with golden Asari letters. "What's that?", Samantha asked as she took a sip of tea. "Oh, it's the 'Chant Of Athame', the holy book of the Asari.", Liara answered as she was digging through the pages, searching for a specific verse.

Samantha was intrigued: "What are you looking for?" "Ah, found it.", Liara replied. "The Chant Of Monia. It is about the Matron Monia, who believes her lover Quniria to be dead. She prays to Athame and gets answered." "Can you read it out aloud?"

Liara took another sip of tea, then started reading: "_And in her minute of despair, it happened such that Monia came upon a tree that was lit alight with blue light, for the shine of Athame had fallen on it. 'O Athame!' Monia wailed. 'How have I transgressed, such that you took Quniria from me?' The tree boomed back with a voice that Monia felt inside her very soul: 'Despair not, for I still love you.' 'Alas, but Quniria is alone under your sky, is she not? No longer can she feel my comfort and my touch and if she is alive, her suffering will be stopped only by her death and if she is dead, my suffering will only be stopped by mine._"

"_The tree boomed back: 'Her heart beats still and her lungs fill with the same air as yours still. I will not allow her to pass, for her time has not come.' 'Then tell me, O mighty Athame, how will I find her? What quest must I endure? What mountain must I climb? What ocean must I cross? Tell me, my goddess!' For the final time it boomed back: 'Falter not, my child. For I sense your faith and your love are strong. Follow your heart and soon you will feel Quniria's touch again.' The glowing light stopped, for now Monia felt Athame in her heart and soul._"

"That's very touching.", Samantha commented. "Yes, it is. When I was a child, my mother used to read it out loud every day." Liara closed the book: "The same Athame in whose name billions of Asari were sacrificed in the ideology of the matriarchs who kept the Thessian beacon secret." "Still, it's one bloody excellent story." Liara smiled: "Sure it is." Samantha placed her hand on Liara's shoulder: "If he's still alive as you said, you will find him." "I will." Suddenly, Samantha's CommPad started to ring: "Oh, looks like I'm needed on the bridge. They got the comms back online."

**SSV Normandy SR-2, Bridge**

Finally, Samantha managed to patch through, and the ship was hailed: "Alliance High Command hailing SSV Normand, High Command hailing Normandy." She replied: "This is Normandy, we are active."


End file.
